Method of coking solid fuel



Aug. 6, 1929. RAFFLQER 1,723,807

METHOD OF COKING SOLID FUEL Original Filed April 1, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTO/l A WORN E Y E. RAFFLOER METHOD F COKING SOLID FUEL Original Filed April 1, 1925 2 Shee1,.s-Sheet INVENTO zmzk j 5 M MTG/WE) Patented Aug. 6, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

METHOD OF COKING- SOLID FUEL.

Original application filed April 1, 1925, Serial no. 19,754. Dividedand'this application filed Mav' 27, 1926. Serial No. 111,984.

My invention relates to improvements iii the method of and apparatus for coking solid fuel such as coal or brown-coal at low temperature, and more particularly in the method in which the solid fuel is coked Within a rotary drum provided internally with longitudinal chambers for the reception ofthe fuel and adapted to be externally heated. In rotary ovensof this type a roll er has been provided internally of the oven for compressing the coal confined within the said chambers, and While slowly rotating the drum the coal is successively pressed into the successive chambers from one 'end thereof by means of a plunger having reciprocatin'g movement in the direction of the said chambers and adapted when charging a chamber to force the'fini's hed product therefrom. The object of the improvements is to increase the. efficiency of the oven. and to render the operation thereof more easy. With these objects in view my'invention consists in providing within the rotary drum a tubular roller for compressing the coal confined within the chambers, and providing means for passing the coal to be subjected tothe process first through the said tubular roller and towards the charging side of the rotary drum, and thereafter through said chambers. Thereby the coal passed through the said roller is preheated, dried and partly de'sulfurized, the steam and the compounds of hydrogen and sulfur being preferably removed from the roller separately from 5 the vapor developed from said chambers,

so that the gas produced by the coking process is comparatively free of steam and sulfur. Further, the chambersreceiving the coal are constructed so that they are gradu- 40 ally increased in cross-sectional area from the charging end to the delivery end, and preferably the diameter of the rotary drum is gradually increased from the charging to the delivery end, so that the breadth of as the chambers is gradually increased. In

lieu of increasing the breadth, or inaddition thereto, the radial dimension of the chambers may be increased. In rotary ovens now in use the chambers are open at their inner sides, and ordinarily I intend to adopt the same system. But in some cases I provide means to cover the-chambers at the parts adjacent to the intake ends thereof where the coal is heated and gasification does not yet begin. 1

By heating and coking the coal is expanded, and. tends -to stick to the walls of the chambers. To avoid this, and to facilitate the escape ofthe gas I prefer to prov de the coal filled into the chambers with a hollow space, for which purpose I provide the plunger at its front end with a rod adapted to be extended into the successive chambers and to form a holetherein.

I havefound that ordinarily the resist ance of the coal moved by the said plunger tl'irough the chambers is suflicient to insure compression of the coal,-and that in some cases the frictional reaction of the coal is not sufficient to produce a compact coke, and in such cases I- provide reaction means the delivery end of the rotary drum in position for reacting on the coal being compressed by the plunger. Preferably such react on means consist of a plate located in position for closing the chamber and acted upon by a springer a weighted bodv.

Preferably a generator is provided in connection with the coke oven for receiving the coke, gasifying the same, and, in some cases, supplying gas for heating the coke oven. I

have found that this combination is particularly effectlve, because the coke produced in my oven is hard and coherent, so that it is not blown by the air from the generator. By directly supplying the hot coke from the oven to the generator, and heating the oven by means of the gas from the generator, the operation of the plant is made economical. My improved process is suitable for makmg bricks from mixtures of solid fuel with granular ore, the bricks thus produced being very hard and coherent, so that theyare not broken within the metallurgical furnace.

This application is a division of my application, Serial N0. 19,754, filed April 1. 1925.

For the purpose of explaining'the inven tion more in detailan oven suitable for carrying out my improved method has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference characters have been used in all the views to indicate corresponding parts. In said drawings,

Fig. 1, is an elevation showing the plant Between the brick work and the said cylinder there is a chamber divided by partitions 33, 34 and 35 so as to provide a flue 36 having its inlet at 5 and its outlet at 7, the inlet being connected by afpipe-37 with the gasificatidn chamber of the generator, and the outlet 7 being'connected byla pipe 38 with a stack; To the ends of the cylinder 10 rings 39 are secured which are supported on rollers 40, and one of the said rings is formed with gear teeth 27 engaged by a gear Wheel 26 secured to a driving shaft 41 by means of which rotary movement is imparted to the cylinder 10. Internally the cylinb der 10 is provided with longitudinal partitions 11 providing chambers 12 adapted to receive the solid fuel to besubjected to the process.

At one end the cylinder 10 is closed by a wall 42 made integral with a funnel or hopper 20, an exhaust pipe 21 and a delive pipe 3, all of the said parts being suitably supported on uprights 43. The opposite end of the cylinder is closed by a plate 44 made integral with a container 45, a funnel or hopper 46 opening into the said container and a tubular member 47 communicating with the'container 45, the whole of the said parts being supported on uprights 48.

Within the cylinder 10 and at the bottom part thereof there is a tubular roller 13 formed at'its left hand end with a hub 49 supported on a trunnion 50'projecting from the end wall 42. At its.opposite end the roller 13 is made integral with a hub 51 having a; shaft 52 secured thereto, which shaft. is provided with suitable driving means represented in Fig. 2 by a gear wheel 53. The

shaft- 52 is suitably supported in the end plate 44 and the wall of the container 45, Internally the roller 13 is provided with a the intake'orleft hand end of the cylinder I 10 to the right hand end thereof.

The funnel20 and the exhaust pipe 21 open into the roller 13, the ob'ect of the funnel being to supply fresh uel to the roller 13, and the object of the pipe 21 being to remove-vapor such as steam and the compounds of hydrogen and sulfur therefrom.

vThe delivery end of the roller 13 opens into the container 45 where the coal is deposited. In addition, solid fuel may be supthe solid fuel from.

ciprocated by a cam 28 keyed to a shaft 54.

Preferably a rod 17 is' provided at the inner end of the plunger 14. The object of the plunger 14 is to force the fuel from the container 45 into the chambers 12 which a1 'e successively brought in line with the tubular member 47. Thus the fuel is compressed within the chambers 12, the rod 17 providing a hollow space 18 within the fuel being advanced through the chambers 12. The compressed and coked fuel is delivered into the tubular member 3. Ordinarily the frictional resistanceof the fuel is sufficient to insure sufficient compression by the plunger 14. But in some cases I provide a gate 24 at the delivery end of the tubular member- 3, which gate is automatically and yieldingly pressed towards the member 3 for example y means of a weighted body 25.

In the preferred construction I construct the chambers 12 with cross-sections which are gradually increased in area from the right hand or inlet end to the left hand or delivery end. As shown the cylinder 10 is increased in diameter from the intake end ry to the delivery end, so that the height of the partitions 11 and the breadth of the chambers at the outer circumference are gradually increased.

In some cases I-provide a cylinder 29 at the inlet end of the cylinder 10 for covering the chambers 12 at their inner sides. he length of the said cylinder is such that the chambers are closed only at the part of their length where the'fuel is heated, and coking and gasification do not yet take place. I

In ovens of the kind referred to the solid fuel is heated only so far that the fuel is not perfectly coked and is delivered in a state which I shall describe as semi-coked, the fuel being heatedin the chambers 12 at a temperature of about 500 C.

he operation of the coke oven is as follows: The solid fuel is supplied to the oven through the funnel 20 from which it is discharged into the tubular roller 13, while intermittent rotary movement is imparted to the said roller 13 and the cylinder 10. The helical vanes 19 provided within the roller 13 convey the fuel towards the container 45, so that the fuel is dried and desulfurized, the steam and the compounds of hydrogen and sulfur escaping through the exhaust pipe 21. From the container 45 the fuel is intermittently forced by the reciprocating plunger 14 into the chambers 12 and throu h the same towards the deliver pipe 3, and by the frictional resistance an place of further use, or it may be directly discharged into a funnel 4 of the generator 2 for being directly gasified therein. The gas produced within the generator is in part conveyed throughthe pipe 37 and to theflue 36,

where it is used for drying and preheating thecoal within the roller 13 and gasifying the same within the chambers 12. The gas not used for heating purposes is delivered through a pipe 6 and conveyed to a place of further use. The delivery of the gas to the pipes 6 and 37 is controlled by valves 56 and 57. The gas produced from the coal within the chambers 12 is discharged through the pipe 8.

In such cases in which the roller 13 is out of use the fuel may be directly supplied to the container 45 through the funnel 23. Ordinarily the said funnel is; closed by a gate 22.

Therefore, the invention consists in the method of coking solid fuel, which consists in compressing the fuel in elongated form having one face thereof open to permit the gases therein to freely exude therefrom, and subjecting said fuel to heat without direct contact therewith, the fuel having most of the gaseous matters therein removed therefrom being subjected to heat of the greatest temperature and the fuel having relatively the most gaseous matters being subjected to the lowest temperature, the intermediate states'of the, fuel being subjected to temperatures inversely to the amount of gaseous matter in the fuel.

And the invention consists further in subjecting the fuel to be treatedto heat circularly around said fuel under temperatures in inverse proportion to the amount of gaseous matter in the fuel, and also in subjecting the fuel prior to its compression to heat at temperatures less than that towhich the.

compressed fuel is subjected. And the invention consists lastly, in subjecting the fuel to heat while rotating and moving in one direction without direct contact with the source of the heat, and removing therefrom steam and the compounds of hydrogen and sulfur for drying and desnlfurizing the fuel,

compressing said dried and desulfurized fuel in confinement while being compressed, and moving it in a direction opposite to its aforesaid movement, exposing said compressed fuel to permit the gaseous matter to exude therefrom, and subjecting said compressed fuel to heat at temperatures in inverse propo'rtion to the gaseous matter contained in the fuel, without direct contact with the source of heat, for removing the re maining gaseous matter therefrom in order to complete its condition to coke form.

I claim:

1. The method of coking material including solid carbonaceous fuel as a principal component, comprising constantly heating the material during its continuous movement in a forwardly directed course in relationto its external heating source so that the material will be preliminarily dried and desulfurized in this course, compressing the material in relatively long narrow masses while it is being constantly heated from the aforesaid heat source during its continuous movement ina re-versely directed course, and exposing said masses intermittently for the free discharge of gases during the last named movement.

2. The method of coking material including solid carbonaceous fuel as a principal component, comprising constantly heating the material during its continuous movement in a forwardly directed course in relationto its external heating source so that the material will be preliminarily dried and desulfurized in this course, compressing the material in relatively long narrow masses while it is being cbnstantly heated from the aforesaid heatsource during. its continuous movement in a reversely directed course, exposing said masses intermittently for the free discharge of gases during the last named movement, the heating being controlled so that the greater amount of heat is applied to said elongated masses of material at the points where they have been freed of the greater part of their gaseous components, and relatively less heat is applied to parts which retain greater amounts of gaseous components.

'In testimony wherof I hereunto affix my signature.

EMIL RAFFLOER, 

